Lipani |
Dec 8, 2010 10:52 PM |
Looks like we can breath easy (for another year at least):
Quote:
Chargers commit to S.D. for 2011, but not beyond
By Nick Canepa, UNION-TRIBUNE
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 1:26 p.m.
The Chargers will not be playing football in Los Angeles — at least not next year.
In a mild effort to snuff rumors that the team is headed north and hold off lame-duck status, the NFL franchise informed the city Wednesday it is not triggering the termination clause in its Qualcomm Stadium lease for 2011. The Chargers have the option to do that every year from Feb. 1 through May 1 until their contract expires in 2020.
But the team stopped short of any guarantees past 2011 — no one thought it would be going anywhere before 2012 anyway — as it continues its attempt to get a new downtown stadium built.
“(Club President) Dean Spanos notified me today that the Chargers would not in 2011 exercise the exit provision in its lease with the city,” Mayor Jerry Sanders said in a statement. “I very much appreciate the commitment that Dean, his family, and the Chargers have shown throughout the team’s eight-year search for a new stadium.
“The Chargers understand, as we all do, the tremendous challenges now facing our region during these historically difficult economic times. But, even in the face of these challenges, we will be able to work through 2011 with the Chargers on a stadium solution downtown that works for both taxpayers and the team.”
All this really means is that the Chargers will play football next season in Qualcomm Stadium — if there is a season. The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union has expired and there has been talk of a lockout by owners, so there are no guarantees there, either.
As for 2012 and beyond, Spanos and Chargers counsel Mark Fabiani, his point man on new stadium dealings, refuse to commit.
“There is just so much economic uncertainty,” Spanos said in an interview with the Union-Tribune. “No good businessman is going to lock himself up unless there’s certainty. You wouldn’t do it in your personal life. You’re never going to say never. It’s unfair to ask any businessman to make a long-term commitment. It’s not good business practice.
“We’re making a serious commitment here — we have made a serious commitment here — and I think people realize we’re sincere. It’s not a question of our commitment, but can the city get something done.”
Rumors that the team could be headed to Los Angeles have heated up since the Spanos family hired Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for 36 percent of the franchise, saying it needed the sale to help pay for estate taxes when owner Alex Spanos and wife Faye die.
Sixty percent of the team would still be owned by Alex and Faye’s four children. Dean claims the decision to do this probably happened 15 years ago.
“We expected capital gains taxes to go up by the end of the year,” Fabiani said, “and that’s why we wanted to sell it by then. But it’s back to where it was now that the Bush tax cuts have been extended for two years, so it takes some of the pressure off having to sell a minority stake in the team right away.”
One of the suitors is said to be AEG, the Los Angeles-based sports and entertainment conglomerate known to be seeking permission from that city and the state to tear down part of the L.A. Convention Center and build a new stadium after it knows it can attract an NFL franchise.
“It’s no different now that when Ed Roski said he was building a stadium (in the City of Industry) two years ago and we were moving there then,” Fabiani says. “No different. Every time somebody comes up with a new stadium idea in L.A., people think we’re moving. We can talk until we’re blue in the face. This is exactly the same as 2008.
“Just as it’s tough to do in San Diego, it’s tough to do in L.A., tough to do in San Francisco, tough to do in Oakland. Building a Super Bowl stadium in California is a tough thing to do. That project in L.A. has to make financial sense. So much would have to be done. It’s so far off.”
The team claims AEG has not purchased a part of the team; a sale to AEG is not imminent, and that Alex and Faye Spanos have been selling other assets for some time for estate purposes. Fabiani also said potential buyers are not limited to AEG or anyone from Los Angeles.
“Thery’re in San Diego, too,” he said. “I got a call from one this morning.”
There even have been rumors Dean Spanos has purchased a home in Los Angeles, which he vehemently denies.
“If I’ve purchased a home in Los Angeles, I’ll give you the deed right now,” Spanos said. “I have not purchased a home in Los Angeles and have no intention to purchase a home in Los Angeles.
“For the first time in a long time we have a good relationship with the city and the mayor’s office. There are some smart people there, like Fred Maas (the CCDC chief who is leaving the job at the end of the month) that really want to get something done.”
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...11-not-beyond/
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